Oh, no, beaten to the punch again! Vince Staten, C-J Scene writer, wrote recently that the movie "Robin Hood" was being produced simultaneously by two other studios besides Kevin Kostner's version this past year. One version was dropped and the other was reduced to a TV series after finding out about Kostner's.
It happens to all of us in some fashion, girlfriend (or boyfriend), job promotion or a hit-song idea. So close, but someone else gets there first.
Paul Overstreet's "Heroes," No. 2 on the Music City News singles charts, brought home the ole "beaten to the punch" realization in March when I heard the song. I had written a similar song with the same theme, "Hero In My Little Girl's Eyes," a few months earlier. It had been inspired by my daughter asking me what some might consider an insignificant thing, but which nevertheless touched me to the point of writing a beautiful song, as I'm sure Paul was touched by someone close to him.
My consolation is: I still have a beautiful song. And a songwriter friend consoled me with, "Great minds think alike." (Wow, that made me feel much better.) And I also have a special moment in time that I will never forget, from a sweet little ten-year-old girl.